O’Biden We just had a surprise visit (at least it was a surprise for me) from our dear friends from San Francisco/Sonoma. One of the things they do is is keep a list of great limited series shows based on true life events and movies of the same genre. I must admit, I haven’t considered that genre for its uniqueness, but when we do happen to watch one (as we did with Dopesick, Painkiller and…
Limping to the Finish Line This morning, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held his longest press conference of his three year tenure in the job. The position of Secretary of Defense is always an important cabinet position, usually the second or third most important among the cabinet. In fact, the official presidential line of succession flows from the Veep to the Speaker of the House, to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (strangely enough,…
Another Trip Among New Year’s resolutions I will bet that most people our age are telling themselves that they will finally get down to seeing the world and traveling more. Inertia certainly increased with age (is that part of Newtonian physics?) and our bodies at rest tend to want to stay at rest. But we have more of different physics equation with which to contend in this household. A few years ago after a very…
Bouncing Buddy I was never a pet person, but as life has progressed I have changed…somewhat. I do give my $19/mo to the ASPCA, but I am forever reminding Kim that the same gift of $19/mo to Save The Children seems more important. We had a dog when I was a kid, but it was really my sister’s dog and was cared for mostly by my farm-strong mother. I will not mention his name in…
Metabolism Schism I am once again confused by my own body. I have been on as much of a regular exercise program for six months now as I can ever remember. This started with a trainer and swimming, it progressed recently to adding a rowing machine at home for workouts when I am not otherwise at the gym or in the pool, and the recent spring weather has me out in the yard doing 2-3…
Contemplating My Navel How often do you think about your navel? It is literally and figuratively the center of you. It connected you to life and to your heritage, undeniably so. We are mostly bestowed with “innies”, but who among us does not wish that we had the abdominal muscles to show off an “outie”? We mostly ignore it until it accumulates some lint and we are forever washing it in the shower absentmindedly because…
Flood on the Hilltop By definition, it would be pretty hard to flood me out on this hilltop. We are literally on higher ground than either our neighbor to the north or the neighbor to the south by at least 30 feet each. To the east and down the front slope it is perhaps 50 feet down to the road. And my back hillside is probably the steepest grade and it goes down perhaps 75…
Healing the Divide We all understand that we live in what seems to be an increasingly divided world. I doubt that many of us like that situation and I know most of us scratch our heads and wonder why it has to be that way. Today’s Washington Post had a lead article that seems to offer some explanation. The problem is thought to be rooted in the age old cultural phenomenon of tribalism. Tribalism is…
Networking In the business world, there are those who spend their energy being part of the “who you know” universe, and there are others who stay comfortably within the “what you know” world. In my day, I liked to think I was a top-notch content manager who spent a lot of time focused on what I needed to know to do the job best. I always figured that if I did that well, I would…
A Tarzan Moment Today is the second of what looks to be a three-day rainy spell here on the hilltop. Everything in the garden is benefiting, but I can’t really say the same for myself. One gets used to the nice weather of San Diego and I find myself at a loss for things to do when I am forced to stay indoors. I am not backlogged with work at the moment and have recently…